Company:	Summerland Winery
Date founded:	June, 2002
Winery location:	Santa Maria, CA
Proprietor:	Nebil “Bilo” Zarif
Winemaking:	Etienne Terlinden, Wine Maker Michele Pignarre Le Danois, Consultant
Annual Production:	Central Coast Collection 12,000 cases Single Vineyard Collection 3,000 cases

Mission Statement

• Mr. Zarif founded Summerland Winery in 2002 with the intention of producing a diverse range of premium wines focusing on the expressive vineyard sources spanning from Santa Barbara to Monterey with an emphasis on small lot, vineyard designated Pinot Noir production.
• Mr. Zarif is well known for founding Barnwood Vineyards in Santa Barbara and later incorporating it with Laetitia Winery in Arroyo Grande (the former French sparkling wine house known as Maison Deutz). His experience with Central Coast vineyards dates back to 1993 with the purchase of three hundred acres of land in the Cuyama Valley.
• Core vineyard sources for Summerland Winery include Bien Nacido located in the cool climate of Santa Maria Valley. Vineyard blocks contracted are as follows: Block U for Chardonnay, Block T for Pinot Noir and Block X for Syrah. The appellations of Santa Rita Hills, Santa Ynez Valley, Edna Valley and Paso Robles are also represented in the portfolio.
• The Summerland Winery Boutique opened their doors in its namesake seaside town of Summerland, California in January 2004. Visitors are invited to taste a range of wines selected daily.
• Summerland’s efforts in the production of Burgundian varietals sourced from cool climate vineyards were recognized by Robert Parker who rated the 2002 Bien Nacido Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, 92 points and 93 points respectively, in The Wine Advocate.

About Summerland

Summerland Winery is a boutique wine company that takes pride in producing a diverse range of premium wines focusing on the expressive vineyard sources spanning from Santa Barbara to Monterey with an emphasis on small lot, vineyard designated Pinot Noir production. Inspired by the relaxed, friendly lifestyle enjoyed throughout California’s serene coastal towns, Proprietor, Mr. Nebil “Bilo” Zarif opened his tasting room in the charming town of Summerland. Here at the Summerland Winery Boutique, visitors are invited to taste Summerland’s award-winning varietal wines in a comfortable seaside setting overlooking the town and Pacific Ocean. Since its conception in 2002, Summerland Winery has quickly built a name synonymous with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

In their first year, Summerland wines received 29 medals including two Gold Medal Best of Class awards for Pinot Noir and to date have recieved over 100 medals and recognition in numerous publications. Summerland Winery continues to impress with their popular 2007 Chardonnay receiving Best of Show White in a judging by their peers in the 2005 Santa Barbara County Fair Wine Competition.

Vineyards First

Take a look at this gorgeous 37-year-old vine holding court in the heart of our Pinot Noir block in the Bien Nacido Vineyard. It all starts here in the vineyard. We put in a lot of miles traveling the region, tasting and meeting with growers before a vineyard site is selected for the Single Vineyard Collection. We recognize that careful vineyard selection and coordination with the vineyard managers throughout the growing season plays a key role in achieving the kind of structure and finesse in the wines we are making. Numerous visits are conducted throughout the harvest by Summerland Winemaker, Etienne Terlinden who will make the final call as to when to pick the grapes for optimal ripeness and flavor. While Bien Nacido serves as the core vineyard source for Summerland’s Chardonnay and Pinot Noir programs, additional Pinot Noir sources include the Fiddlestix and Rancho Santa Rosa Vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills appellation, Wolff  Vineyard and Odyssey-Thurlestone Vineyards in Edna Valley and Solomon Hills Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley.

Winemaking

Summerland production takes place in our facility in Santa Maria, California, near the Bien Nacido Vineyard. The location is ideal since we contract fruit from several vineyard sources throughout the region.

Winemaker, Etienne Terlinden describes his approach as a meeting of old world tradition and new world principles. The fruit is processed using state of the art equipment ideal for Pinot Noir production yet vinification and cellaring is conducted with minimal intervention and traditional winemaking in mind. Here you see the red wine grapes passing through sorting tables then on to the destemer, which gently removes the stems from the clusters. The juice and berries fall into 1.5-ton wood fermenters for a slow maceration process averaging 10 –14 days depending on the varietal and clone. The grapes are then pressed using a bladder press and the juice is gently removed from the skins. From here the wine will be aged in small French Oak casks until bottling.

Our commitment to small lot production is evident in the wines that comprise the Single Vineyard Collection. Here the wines are hand-crafted every step of the way in quantities ranging from as little as 125 cases to 800 cases.

Blending is conducted with the expertise of world-renowned consultant, Michele Pignarre le Danois. Michele, who resides in Bordeaux, visits the region periodically to taste and sew together the final blends with Etienne and his staff. This is the crucial step where all the components that go into a single vineyard bottling are evaluated, analyzed and pieced together to make wines that will bear the distinction of our celebrated Single Vineyard Collection. An individual bottling of Pinot Noir may have up to as many as six clonal varieties that Etienne has carefully vinified separately in the cellar. Barrels that are not selected for single vineyard programs will be blended into the Central Coast Collection. This keeps the single vineyard wines focused on the terroir and flavor profile of the individual vineyard site while maintaining high wine quality in both programs. The finished wines are bottled with minimal fining to preserve the fruit intensity and released in limited quantities.